Wrong Question
by macisgate
Summary: General Landry tries to mend fences with his daughter with some success, that is, until he asks the wrong question.  Will Carolyn trust him with the answer?


Wrong Question

Rated – PGish

Season: 9

Spoilers: teeny one for The Fourth Horseman

Summary: General Landry tries to mend fences with his daughter with some success, that is, until he asks the wrong question. Can Carolyn trust him with the answer?

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this look into General Landry and Carolyn's relationship. Thanks so much for reading.

Best wishes and lots of love,

Macisgate

General Landry stood in the doorway of the infirmary and watched his daughter. He still marveled at the fact that she was an adult now. He had missed most of her later years because of work. Even now, he still couldn't help but think of her as a child. He shook his head and tried his best to shake that thought. She was a woman now, and she would not appreciate his line of thought.

"General, is there anything I can do for you?" a young nurse asked. Her question caught Carolyn's notice.

"Dad?" she raised her eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you could join me for lunch."

Carolyn looked around her and failed to find any believable reason why she couldn't. Hank winced. He knew that look well. He had a lot of making up to do.

She nodded, finished some notes on her clipboard, then joined him.

"So how has your day been?" Hank asked as they walked to the mess.

"Fine. There were only a couple teams that came back with minor injuries, so it was a quiet morning."

"That's good."

"And how was your morning?" Hank could tell it was an effort for her to be polite. She always spoke tensely around him.

"It was fine too. Things have been quiet lately. Makes me wonder if we're building up to something."

"Hmm."

They reached the mess and filled their trays. Hank noticed Carolyn added chocolate cake to her tray. Normally, she was a religiously healthy eater. He commented on it.

"Working here has taught me the value of soul food," she explained with a wince.

"I know what you mean," he agreed as he added apple pie to his own plate.

They sat down at a table in the back corner of the room.

Carolyn placed her napkin in her lap. She'd always had good manners, even when she was a little girl. He remembered when she had tea parties with her teddy bears. On one occasion, she even invited him to join her. She'd put a lacey straw hat on his head and placed his napkin in his lap for him. The memory warmed him. It was one of his favorites.

He had so many memories of when she was a young child but few from her adolescent and adult years.

"You know, Carolyn, I've been thinking about what you said when I was in the infirmary infected with the Ori disease."

"Oh?" She looked up at him, but continued to eat her salad.

"What do you say we start getting reacquainted? I feel like I've missed out on so much of your life, and that is something I will always regret. But maybe we can go on from here. What do you think?"

"Just how do you suppose we get 'reacquainted'?" she looked at him with an annoyance he was sadly getting used to.

"Well, why don't we start by asking each other questions."

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, um- what's your favorite color? I suppose it isn't pink anymore. Do you play any sports? What kind of music do you like?"

"My favorite color _is_ still pink. I run every morning and practice yoga, and my favorite kind of music is classical. Is that what you'd like to know?"

"Well, yes. Now it's your turn. Ask me anything you want." He started in on his pie.

"What's your favorite color?" she began uncomfortably taking a bite of her cake.

"Red."

"The color of power. What about sports. Do you still play golf?"

"Every Saturday."

"What kind of music do you like?"

"Country – especially Johnny Cash."

"I remember that."

"What else?" he smiled. This was going better than he thought.

"Anything?"

"Anything," he assured her.

"Why did you and mom divorce?" She played at her cake with her fork.

He should have known she would ask that. He took a deep breath and thought about the best way to answer that. He supposed she could already guess at the answer.

"I was away a lot, as you know," he said as he watched her smile ruefully. "It was hard on both of us. We simply grew apart. We stopped needing each other. I still care about her very much though."

Carolyn nodded. She could accept that.

"Why did you and Michael divorce?" he asked.

Carolyn visibly jerked at the question. He was surprised to see her face redden and even more surprised to see her eyes brighten with tears. She stood up as one fell.

"I've got to get back to work," she managed.

"Carolyn, wait, I'm so sorry, I-," Hank reached out to place a hand on her arm. She turned back, but he realized it was just so she could regain some composure before crossing the room which was now filling up. She never did like anyone to see her cry.

"Wrong question, Dad." She took a deep breath, then looked down at his large hand on her arm as though reluctant to break the contact. But she did, and before he could say anything more, she left.

Carolyn cursed her father for asking that question, and she cursed herself for her reaction. He hadn't seen her cry since she was four.

_Couldn't hold it together for even a couple minutes of normal conversation_, she slammed an instrument down on the metal tray in front of her, drawing stares from one of the patients. She glared at him, and he looked away. _You should have seen it coming. You did ask him about his divorce_.

The rest of her day did not go well. By the time she put on her coat to leave, she had a pounding headache and a queasy stomach. She grabbed her purse and went out the door.

Where she ran into her father.

"Carolyn," he acted pleasantly surprised to see her. As if he hadn't planned on catching her there.

_Wait in the hallway of the infirmary for an hour, Dad. Hey, it's Carolyn. Whoa, big shocker._

"I was just on my way out," he said. "Why don't we walk together?"

"Fine." _Wait for it… Wait for it…_

"About earlier-"

_Bingo._

"I'm sorry for asking something so personal. I didn't mean to upset you."

Carolyn sighed. "Dad, it's fine. I did ask you the same question. I should have known you would ask the same in return. Let's just drop it."

He nodded his acceptance, and she could feel her shoulders relax as she knew he would not bring the subject up again. She trusted him not to. So why didn't she trust him with her secret? _Because it's personal_.

_So it's okay for you to ask him personal questions and not for him to ask personal questions of you?_ she countered herself. _If you really want to have a relationship with him again, you have to do some of the work too. You can't punish him forever._

They reached her car in the parking garage.

"Good night, Carolyn," he smiled warmly at her and placed his hand on the side of her head. She leaned into it and put her hand over his. She was visibly losing control of her emotions. He put his arms around her and drew her against him.

Carolyn took deep breaths. The scent of his brown leather jacket filled her.

"Carolyn, baby, please tell me what's wrong," he said softly into her hair.

_Here goes nothing._

She pulled away from him slightly. "I'm going to tell you why Michael and I divorced, but I won't be able to tell you much because it still hurts too much." 

"Of course," he agreed and brushed at her hair the way he had when she was little.

"I was ten weeks pregnant, and I had a miscarriage. The doctors determined that I will never be able to carry a child to term."

"Oh, Carolyn."

Carolyn closed her eyes and continued.

"Michael always wanted children of his own, and when he knew that I couldn't -. He refused to consider adoption, so he left."

He pulled her close again. "Carolyn, baby, I'm so sorry."

Carolyn couldn't stop her tears. She felt as though an excruciating load had been released.

They stood together for a while. Finally, Carolyn pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she offered. "You had a right to know."

"I'm just glad you told me now. I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone."

She nodded. Her tears weren't finished, but she moved to get into her car.

"Carolyn, wait." She stopped. "Can we just- do you want to go for a cup of coffee? My treat."

He was sure she would say no, but instead she nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay," he smiled with relief. Maybe they hadn't rebuilt the bridge between them completely, but it was started, and he would do everything in his power to make sure it was never torn down again.


End file.
